Are there universal values?

I’ve had the pleasure of living in many different countries and visiting many more. I’ve lived in the US, some places in Europe, a number of places in Asia, and Australia.

It’s my opinion that foreign travel and especially living overseas teaches one that cultures value different aspects of life. In the case of Asia, I was taught that some of those values diverge radically from what I learned in my mother culture.

In Japan, I learned the group is far superior to the individual, which is a polar opposite to what I learned growing up. With the group as supreme, even an individual’s life means less.

Are there some values that transcend culture?

Are values relative to their cultural significance?